


All-American Pride

by imafriendlydalek



Series: American Pride [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Pride Parade, activist Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4221030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imafriendlydalek/pseuds/imafriendlydalek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The press seems to think Tony and Steve are in a relationship, and so many people seem so happy about it that Steve just runs with it, dragging Tony along. To a Pride rally.</p>
<p>Whoever gave Steve that flag he's wrapped himself in deserves a medal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All-American Pride

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this last week and it was going to be for Steve/Tony Fest, but then marriage equality happened and it feels so topical that I couldn't wait to post it.

_How is this my life?_ Tony thinks, rubbing his hand over his face. _Is this even real life?_

Things had been perfectly normal just a week ago. Everything had been fine. Really. He’s come to terms with the thing about Pepper leaving, even if he gets lonely sometimes, but he’s part of the team again, which is great. It had felt good to get back in the suit. He’s taking a back seat now, which feels strange but also kind of liberating. No more accidentally building murderbots without telling anyone, he’s vowed. He’s trying out this whole “openness and honesty” thing, and it actually isn’t so bad.

It’s somewhat ironic, though, that Steve had pushed him so hard to do so, and now they are, in a sense, living a lie at Steve’s behest.

Tony blames the gossip rags. Someone had snapped a picture of them, taken it completely out of context and spun a story around it that just about every news media outlet in the world, it seemed, had picked up.

And now this.

***

They’d just finished fighting the supervillain of the week, a guy who calls himself Supercharger. Tony had taken a hit to the chest from one of Supercharger’s electrical surges and his arc reactor had gotten knocked out, leaving his suit and his heart without power. Tony had programmed the suit to recognize Steve’s handprints, so Steve had pressed his palm to Tony’s chest to jumpstart it.

The morning after the battle, Tony’s minding his own business, curled around his coffee mug in the communal kitchen while he watches Steve flipping pancakes, when Natasha wanders in and tosses the paper onto the table.

CAPTAIN AMERICA AND IRON MAN CAUGHT IN RARE INTIMATE MOMENT, the headline reads. Right there, on the front page, is a grainy photo of him, the armor’s faceplate flipped up, and Steve holding him up with one arm wrapped around his lower back. The other hand is over Tony’s heart. ‘SUPER’ SECRET LOVE? the caption posits. What the heck? He’s clearly unconscious in the photo - how do they not see that?

“You boys got something you want to share with the rest of us?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.

He takes one look at it and laughs. “Yeah, right. We all know Spangles doesn’t bend that way.”

Steve purses his lips at that but says nothing, which is not the reaction Tony had been expecting. Huh. “They sure do have an imagination. I was just restarting the RT.”

Tony clutches at his chest with an air of mock adulation. “My heart beats only for you, Cap.”

With a flick of his wrist, Steve flings a pancake at him.

“Geez Cap, since when do you waste food?” Clint asks, appearing behind Natasha. He picks up the pancake, which has landed on the table next to Tony, and shoves it in his mouth.

“Knew you’d eat it anyway, Barton,” Steve counters with a shrug.

***

“Huh, fancy that,” Steve says to no one in particular. He’s looking down at his phone as they walk.

Thor had wanted hot dogs from his favorite place in TriBeCa and Steve had jumped at the invite. Eating hot dogs always turns into a competition with those two, and watching the God of Thunder and Captain America go dog-for-dog is the kind of entertainment that Tony wouldn’t miss for the world. Plus Jane is in town and she’s a great Science Buddy.

Even Thor is quiet now, clutching his stomach slightly. Not surprising, seeing as he’s just eaten about three dozen hot dogs in half an hour. A walk will help with digestion, Steve had suggested, and it’s a warm June evening, so they decide to walk back to the Tower.

“Care to share with the class, Cap?” Tony inquires as he steps around some scaffolding on the sidewalk.

“I have 137 new emails,” Steve replies without looking up, still managing to avoid running into the scaffolding.

“Is that unusual? I get more’n that on a Tuesday.”

“Well we’re not all the head of an international corporation.” Steve shoots him a look, then turns back to his phone. “But they’re all from strangers. Most of them are saying thank you.”

“Tis noble, to express appreciation for our hard work to keep this fair city safe and free from oversized batteries,” Thor rumbles.

Steve shakes his head. “No, not that. They must have seen that picture in the paper. Here, this one’s from a fourteen-year-old boy. He says he used to cry himself to sleep every night, but knowing that there are gay superheroes makes him feel less alone. It gave another one the courage to come out to his parents. This one’s from a mom in Kansas. She says that she isn’t worried about her lesbian daughter now, knowing that ‘Captain America is fighting on her side.’ There’s loads like this.”

Tony wants to shoot back a retort but finds that he can’t come up with anything to say.

“But you’re not…” Jane says, gesturing at Steve and Tony.

“I guess they all think we are,” Steve says, glancing at Tony sideways.

“Fancy that,” Tony mumbles.

As they walk on, Steve continues to read some of the emails aloud. Not all of them are nice, but most are. There seems to be some sort of event going on at the park up the road, because the crowds are growing bigger as they get closer. Tony regrets not dressing more in cognito. He didn’t even bring sunglasses. There’s a group of twenty-somethings headed their way, and they’re looking right at Tony.

“It’s Tony Stark!” one of them calls.

Okay, so they’re all obviously drunk too.

“Hey, can I get a picture?” another asks, then he spots Steve and Thor. “Whoa, and Captain America and Thor!”

That’s when Tony’s brain kicks in and processes what they’re wearing - every shade of the rainbow, and matching rainbow facepaint. One of them has colored spray in his fauxhawk, and another is wearing gigantic sparkly glasses.

“Yeah, sure, get in here,” Steve - bless him, naive little Steve - says, reaching out to put an arm around as many of them as he can. “Say cheese!”

“Hey, Iron Man, you too!” One of them waves at Tony to come over.

“Come on, Shellhead,” Steve calls to him with a grin. If the world only knew how secretly evil Captain America is.

Tony rolls his eyes and squeezes in to the group hug/photo pose they’ve got going on. Someone drapes a stripy flag over them, which Steve of course instinctively wraps himself up in, blissfully ignorant of the statement he’s making.

Instagram is probably going to explode in about three minutes, Tony thinks, and yet he’s still going with it. Steve is grinning like a puppy dog and looking like the embodiment of All-American Pride. A few feet away, Jane looks like she’s about to die of amusement while Thor seems to have no idea what’s going on.

“Alright kids, time for me to get the Captain home,” Tony says, stepping between Steve and one of the guys, who’s getting a bit handsy.

“Are you coming to the rally?” the one with the rainbow fauxhawk asks, and before Tony can say no, Steve’s already telling them to lead the way.

“Do you think he knows what this is?” Jane whispers to Tony as they follow the crowd. 

Steve is a few feet ahead of them, talking animatedly with his group of new friends. He’s still wearing that flag, a version of the American flag with rainbow stripes instead of red and white.

“You know,” Tony replies quietly, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s doing it on purpose. He does love to make a grand statement. As SHIELD learned the hard way.”

“Steven is an admirable warrior who will fight for any cause he deems just.”

Jane smiles at Thor fondly, but Tony finds himself frowning. “Yeah, except I somehow became his shieldmaiden in this.”

Thor claps him on the back. “Be glad, Tony. It has been a long time since you have been a maiden!”

Did the heir to Asgard just call him out? 

They’ve made it to the park, where a stage has been set up. Everything is decked out in rainbow flags and the crowd is buzzing with excitement. The emcee on the stage, a drag queen in an admittedly fabulous dress and heels that make the ones Pepper wears look like Mary Janes, is welcoming the crowd to this year’s Pride rally.

“It looks like we have some very special guests!” she calls out. _Shit._ She’s pointing right at them. “Our two favorite fabulous superheroes! Let’s hear it for Iron Man and Captain America!”

The crowd erupts in cheers, drowning out whatever the emcee says next. Everyone is looking in their direction and soon they’re chanting. “KISS HIM! KISS HIM! KISS HIM!”

_How is this my life?_ Tony thinks, rubbing his hand over his face. _Is this even real life?_

He looks up to see Steve looking over at him. His ears are red, as if he’s just realized what they’re calling for.

_Time to show the Captain what he got himself into_ , Tony thinks, stepping forward to close the space between them. He slips a hand around Steve’s neck, who pulls back slightly at his touch.

“You asked for it, Cap,” Tony says and leans up, pressing his lips against Steve’s. The cheers are almost deafening, but Tony doesn’t process them at all, because Steve opens his lips ever so slightly and now he’s kissing him back. And they’re making out in the middle of Washington Square Park, literally thousands of people watching them, but Tony realizes he doesn’t care at all. Steve’s lips are soft, and his tongue darts out, exploring Tony’s mouth, and when did Captain America learn to kiss like that?

He pulls away, ending the kiss, and when he opens his eyes he sees Steve staring back at him. He looks absolutely wrecked. _How did Steve’s hand get into the back pocket of my jeans?_ Tony wonders. _Wait, what is my hand doing under his shirt?_

“I did,” Steve finally says, his voice husky. “Not the answer I was expecting, but I’ll definitely take it.”

“Will you?” Tony asks with a wink because he can’t let a set-up like that slide.

Steve smiles, leans in close and ghosts over Tony’s ear with his lips before whispering “I will.”

It’s a good thing Steve still has a firm grip on him, because Tony’s knees definitely buckle at that.

“Well then,” Tony manages, “this has been great fun but now I really need to get the old man home.” He takes Steve’s hand and drags him. “Let’s go, Cap. Chop chop. We’ve got places to be. Well, a place. Things to do.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [#LoveWinsAmerica](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5888761) by [Agent C (arh581958)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arh581958/pseuds/Agent%20C)




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